Upon my arrival at the high school, I instantly became friends with a junior in the band with me, named Claire. She was a caring person who wanted to help others whenever she could. I am still friends with her today and recently visited her at her college. Through our friendship, I have become close with Claire’s whole family, who all have the same desire to help others. One of the first encounters I had with her brother, Matthew, was during his Eagle Scout project. I worked alongside Matthew and his fellow scouts to recreate the existing “Outdoor Classroom” at the Village Elementary School. We laid mulch, painted bleachers, and chopped trees to transform what was an overgrown path into a usable learning area. The outcome of this project was
Additionally, he participated in Belleville’s poverty challenge with my granddaughter last summer at Loyalist College to better understand the challenges that the least fortunate in our community face daily. They participated in a simulation of an individual’s life where they had to find shelter, social service, and food to survive. Tristen always
It is a St. Michael’s tradition that every year the eighth graders receive first grade buddies. This year is no different. Obviously, the first graders are a lot younger than the eighth graders. I have find ways to connect with her and other first graders. This is more difficult, and in the first few weeks of receiving buddies, I unfortunately did not know how to do this, but luckily now I do, and my buddy and I are close. As an eighth grader I have to be responsible, and make sure I take good care of my buddy because when I’m in high school, it might be possible for me to get a job babysitting her. I know my eighth grade buddy babysat me when I was in first and second grade. Not only do I have to be responsible because of my buddy, but also because of the amount of schoolwork I receive.
In American history, there were many influential people who made a significant impact on society. One person in particular demonstrated values that are very important to me. For this reason, I have chosen Clara Barton as the person that I would most wish to dine with and discuss relevant issues. Clara Barton had a very eventful life as a traveling nurse during the Civil War and as the founder of the American Red Cross. She overcame incredible obstacles in order to fulfill an intrinsic desire to serve. Ms. Barton’s service to her community and to her country exemplifies the principles of service, community fellowship, and patriotism. Specific issues that I would like to discuss with Ms. Barton would include teaching the value of these principles to the youth of today. These values would help teens overcome insecurities to increase volunteerism, and inspire teens to become leaders despite our country’s divisive atmosphere.
My passion for volunteering has grown steadily throughout my four years of attending high school. I viewed volunteering as an escape from problems at school and home and focused on bettering the lives of other individuals. By joining a variety of volunteering opportunities, one club strongly impacted my perspective on the lives of others, Best Buddies. This club gives students the opportunity to develop friendships and relationships with other students who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. When joining the club I had only thought about the impact I would be making on the students with intellectual disabilities and thought very little about the impact the students would leave on myself. When being paired with a student named
As I sat in the boiling hot sun, the heat that had overwhelmed me throughout the day surpassed. I was engulfed by Lu Paul, a native Hawaiian advocate who was telling me the story of how Native Hawaiians loss their rights. “How did my people become a minority in their own land?” he asked me inquisitively. I found myself making many connections with this man’s story and my own. As he answered my questions about inequality in his community, he began to speak of many things that I had witnessed in my life, that I thought only my own culture experienced. “My people need to fight for equal education, language rights, and employment”, he stated firmly. It was in this moment I began to broaden my perspective of inequality and minority rights. This along with the many other field experiences I had during my semester abroad, help shape my desire to attend law school and work both nationally and abroad in civil and human rights.
I have always considered myself a very promising student. I have worked extremely hard and received high grades. I have a close knit group of friends and my teachers and I have mutual respect for each other .Although I would consider myself at this present stage ‘fulfilled’ something was missing. I realized it wasn’t a materialistic aspect of my life. Through a tragic incident I finally discovered what fit perfectly in that vacancy. The consecutive hospitalizations of my grandparents evoked great pain and sorrow. However, out of the scorching intensity of this tragedy I was warmed and comforted by realizing what I was devoid of: community service.
When I began my running activities for Outdoor Education, I thought that all I had to do was just take off running as hard and fast as I could for as long as I could. I also wondered that other than safety rules, because everyone should always be safe no matter what they do, why any "rules" or "tips" were needed for running. The reason I thought this way is because humans and animals run naturally. I learned quickly that just because something may come natural may not always be easy or safe unless rules, tips, and techniques are followed.
When I started high school, I wanted to study other cultures and further my knowledge of another language. Besides taking classes in Spanish, I chose to volunteer after school with Bosnian refugees. The volunteer program aids Bosnian refugees in their immersion into American culture. I volunteered to help a family become accustomed to life in the United States, and was paired with a family who had spent less than three weeks in our country. My family included a mother and two teenage daughters around my age. Within the first hours of meeting the Sinanovics, I believed that through an ongoing relationship, I would be able to have a lasting impact on three lives.
During the experiences that I’ve had while doing this community outreach I’ve observed that at first you can tell that these young men weren’t very excited maybe because they’re mindsets are that the most important people in their lives abandoned them soon we will too. So that it was difficult for the young men to open up so we started of doing activates such as playing sports and watching movies to get closer to the young men. After a while I started to see a sense of acceptance by some of the young boys, we still kept our composer by not pushing to strong in order for these young men to see that we are here for good not to make them feel like a charity case. As soon after the young men began to show interest in what we were trying to do and our purpose of what we were doing, we explained that we wanted to be mentors to them more like “big brothers” we all are not far from age but still time is the best teacher so we use our experiences to help. With that I also experienced during this active part in the community is that these kids have went through more troubling things in their lives than I have and I am their mentors. That’s when the word of...
Chrissy Ethridge achieved many goals in her lifetime. She changed the lives of everyone she met. She was born March 7, 1997 in Carthage, Tennessee. She was a faithful friend, daughter, mother, and grandmother. She received her Associate’s degree at Volunteer State Community College. She then went on to receive her Bachelor’s degree at Tennessee Tech University. She finally obtained her Masters degree from Vanderbilt University. Shortly after graduated, Chrissy, alongside her best friend, built a special needs school in Lafayette, Tennessee. She taught the preschool age group. Chrissy made a huge impact on every one of her students. She built an amazing career! A career she loved!
My family is very different from my best friend Michael’s family in a variety of ways. My parents have been married for over 30 years and Michael’s parents have been divorced since he was 12. Even though Michael’s parents are divorced they sincerely love each other. My parents are together but cannot stand each others. My father has always worked and my mother has always been a housewife. Michael’s mother works and his father stays at home. I grew up with two older brothers; and Michael has two younger sisters. Michael has two step-parents. We have a very different sibling situation. I was never allowed to have pets as a child and Michael had several. Michael and I have families that are entirely different.
Through my volunteering I have made a new friend - Irene. She has family, but they live faraway and cannot come to visit often. Our friendship grew through the summer. She grew up in Shelton and lived in Milford before she came to the home. She has two sons who seldom visit. Her grandchildren, however, do visit every weekend.
A hike through Camden Hills State Park will allow one to see the aged and looming American Beech trees, scattered throughout the forest populated along with Eastern White Pines and Big Tooth Aspens. Many may not know of the bitter yet beneficial tea that can be made from the White Pine's needles, or that the dandelions at your feet can be picked and used in many different recipes. Once the trek to the peak is made, many people from a wide variety of locations may be found picnicking, socializing, or just relaxing and taking in the view, all of whom have a mutual respect for the outdoors.
Make a Teacher Read-Aloud an Everyday Event (CW) pg. 14…..My first week at my fieldwork class, would have been a great introduction to Chapter two of Classrooms that Work. When I arrived, the children had just returned from recess and my fieldwork teacher transition her class with a read aloud. I could tell right off that this was a regular routine for her students. They sat down at the colorful alphabet rug in the center of the classroom. They sat quietly as their teacher read a chapter book on the wonderful adventures of a frog (sorry I didn’t catch the name of the book). She read several chapters and ask her students several questions about what had been read. So the part of the chapter I believed to be most beneficial, is making read alouds
We are each unique and have different goals and aspirations. But whether we become a social worker, doctor, auto mechanic, or a politician, we can influence the lives of others in a positive way. Each small thing we do, even just a simple smile or pat on the back, can make a difference to one person. And when we do this daily at school or work or in our family, we are slowly changing our homes, neighborhoods and communities. In the year 2007, at our ten-year reunion, I would like each of us to be able to share how we have left our footprints on the hearts of those around us, and thereby made a difference in our community. We will be able to see how the Class of 2006 has united to change the world.